Help with stabilisation please - unwanted airlock activity!

[meadman77]

Hi everyone,
I have a fairly urgent question. I have a small (5L) batch of Peach and Nectarine Melomel. It is my first melomel apart from JAO. I am really happy with the flavour. I added 1 Campden tablet and 1/2 teaspoon sorbate - after racking and let sit for 2 weeks. I did this because I recently made a batch of skeeter pee and it said to wait 2 weeks after stabilising and degassing to allow the wine to clear before racking and backsweetening (I am new to trying the whole backsweetening thing). I then did a final racking and backsweetened to 1.012 which I thought tasted good. It has been sitting 2 days now and I was planning on bottling soon - but now there is some slow but consistent airlock activity. It had been sitting in secondary for quite some time so I don't think it is degassing and there are no visible bubbles present at this stage.

What should I do? Add more Kmeta only? Add more sorbate? (Did I not add enough??)

I don't want to ruin it at this stage so a bit unsure on best course of action.

Thanks for your help.

 

[WVMountaineerJack]

Did you degass before you stabalized? You are just assuming its not degassing but wine can retain gas for a long long time, much longer than your doing now. Some other info like what kind of yeast, your starting gravity, what kind of mead etc would be helpfull. WVMJ

 

[meadman77]

I gave it a good stir for degassing, that is all. I don't have specialized equipment to degas and I was concerned about oxidation.

The yeast I used was K1V-1116. SG was 1.090. FG was 1.003.

Recipe was:

1.7kg honey

Water to 5L

2kg nectarine/peach mix (seeded and chopped). Frozen and thawed.

870g peaches to add to secondary later.

3 tsp pectic enzyme

1 tsp yeast nutrient.

1 campden tablet and waited 24 hours before pitching.

 

[DoctorCAD]

What are your SG readings doing? Getting smaller = fermenting.

Visual signs including airlock activity dont matter.

 

[Floandgary]

Presuming this small quantity is in a gallon jug, simply place the palm of one hand over the jug-mouth, the other hand on the bottom, then shake the daylights out of it!!! May spray a little but CO2 will be gone

 

[meadman77]

Presuming this small quantity is in a gallon jug, simply place the palm of one hand over the jug-mouth, the other hand on the bottom, then shake the daylights out of it!!! May spray a little but CO2 will be gone

Won't this cause oxidation? I thought oxygen was meads enemy.

 

[Floandgary]

Not introducing any O2. Freeing CO2 like when you shake a pop bottle, beer bottle, champagne magnum etc.